Table Rock Road fixes on agenda

A 1.5-mile section of Table Rock Road could receive a $2.6 million makeover, including a new traffic signal, a continuous left-turn lane and a new intersection with Gregory Road.

By RYAN PFEIL

A 1.5-mile section of Table Rock Road could receive a $2.6 million makeover, including a new traffic signal, a continuous left-turn lane and a new intersection with Gregory Road.

The proposed improvements will go before the Jackson County Board of Commissioners Wednesday. If approved, the stretch of Table Rock between Wilson and Elmhurst roads would be upgraded.

Table Rock Road has five lanes between Biddle and Wilson roads. From there, it shrinks to one lane each way with no middle left-turn lane, which the county sees as a safety hazard.

"We have a lot of capacity issues and safety issues associated with left-turn movements," said John Vial, Jackson County Roads and Parks director. "You have a lot of heavy traffic that stacks up at times."

County officials propose a continuous left-turn lane that would run for the entire stretch, a 5-foot pedestrian path on one side of the road, which would run from Wilson Road to Gregory Road, and installation of a traffic signal at Wilson Road. Gregory Road's staggered intersection with Table Rock Road would be realigned.

"We're going to pull East Gregory Road south and create a standard four-way intersection," Vial said.

In addition, the north and south travel lanes on Table Rock Road would be repaved.

The project would be paid for with $1.92 million in federal and state Surface Transportation Program funds — or gas taxes — $625,000 in system development charges, and $59,000 in Jackson County Road Department general funds.

County officials said they would start with bridge work on East Gregory Road and Table Rock Road this fall, with additional construction in spring 2014.

"We'll be contacting the business owners (along the stretch) and working with them," Vial said, adding a majority of the construction work would be done at night. "That's still under design right now."